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Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku and Judge President Justice George Chiweshe are working flat-out to ensure the deployment of judges for the newly-established permanent High Court for Masvingo by September 13 this year.
In a statement, secretary for the Judicial Service Commission Justice Rita Makarau rubbished as inaccurate various media reports insinuating that there was chaos in the deployment process and that the province will be without judges for the whole of this year.
“The Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, the Honourable GG Chidyausiku and the Judge President of the High Court Honourable GM Chiweshe wish to correct some wrong impressions created by articles, which appeared in various media publications bemoaning the absence of a judge at Masvingo High Court after it was officially opened by Vice President, Honourable ED Mnangagwa and the Chief Justice on 30 May, 2016.
“There is no chaos in the process of decentralising the High Court, which process remains on course,” reads the statement.
Justice Makarau said the judiciary regretted the delay adding that efforts were underway to ensure the deployment of judges to the new court by September.
“The Chief Justice and Judge President both regret the delay in deploying a judge or judges to man the court, which delay has been occasioned by logistical challenges.
“They wish to advise that deployment will be done without delay and in any event, by not later than the beginning of the third term of the 2016 legal year, which begins on September 2016,” said Justice Makarau.
The third permanent High Court in the country was officially opened by VP Mnangagwa and the Chief Justice last month, in Zimbabwe’s oldest town of Masvingo.
It becomes the first ever permanent High Court to be established in independent Zimbabwe, some 122 years after the setting up of the Bulawayo High Court.
JSC, chaired by Chief Justice Chidyausiku, is leading the decentralisation process with the Masvingo High Court being opened under the theme “Access to Justice”.
The decentralisation of the High Court is aimed at ensuring everyone has access to justice.
Before the setting up of the High Court in Masvingo, people had to travel to Harare for litigation, which was expensive for the majority.
Some could travel as far as Chikombedzi to Harare or Bulawayo for High Court matters.
A Circuit Court would sit for two weeks every legal term and it only dealt with criminal matters.
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